Home Wireless Internet Connection No Go

Home Wireless Internet Connection No Go

Strange problem w/my home wireless network - We had Verizon FIOS installed a week ago Friday. All computers, laptops, tablets connected to the new home network just fine, with one exception.

A Dell desktop that I use can 'see' the network, it shows five green bars and excellent signal strength, but it can't/won't connect. I had two rather lengthy phone conversations last Saturday with the Verizon Help Desk, and after numerous attempts at entering/re-entering SSID's and passwords, they determined at that time that they couldn't help me, and suggested I bring the computer to a repair shop. I did that, and the shop saw that the computer could pick up wireless signals just fine; and in fact some of the wireless test networks they connected to were fairly distant, they said. I brought the PC home, and still had the same problem. Called the shop back and they were a bit stumped.

This morning, with some time on my hands, I called Verizon again, and related the story. They were again stumped, but suggested I re-locate the PC to the room where the router is, to test it at close range to the signal. I 've done that, and the problem still exists. That's not too surprising, because, as I mentioned, the PC 'sees' 5 green bars and excellent signal strength when it's on the second floor of the house. I am, however, close enough to the router now that I can successfully connect w/an ethernet cable; but that's not how I want to leave it.

I'm technologically Neanderthal when it comes to this stuff, so my trouble-shooting efforts haven't helped matters any. If any of you who have evolved above Neanderthal stage can offer any suggestions, I'll be happy to give them a shot.

In the words of David Hedison in the final scene of 'The Fly', "Help me! Help meeee!"

I hope that Verizon or the repair shop asked this, but your wireless isn't locked down by MAC address, is it? Only allowing MAC addresses (a unique number assigned to a device's network card) that you input to the router is another level of security to prevent others in your area from attaching to your network.

The MAC filter is something that you can enable on your router to limit which devices are allowed to connect. It is typically not turned on by default. You have to go in to you router's config and enable it.